“Juno,” West whispered. “You’re safe with me.”
“I know that,” I answered softly. “I know I am with you.”
“And him too.”
My lips parted to deny his statement about his asshole friend, but no words came out. I knew he was right. Even though Langston and I butted heads and drove each other up the wall with his overbearing attitude and me pushing back, not daring to allow another man to have a foothold over my life, he was safe.
I was safe with everyone in our community despite the dangers and mystery encompassing Anchor Bay. But the comprehensive safety I felt when West and Langston were around went deeper than with the others. If they were close, I knew without a doubt that one or both had an eye on me, which I cherished—even though I pretended to hate it to piss Langston off.
Like that embarrassing night at Dave’s a few weeks back when he literally manhandled me out of the bar. I was drunk as hell, and he went and tossed me over his shoulder, completely ignoring my demands to be put down. I hated it and loved it in equal measure.
Damn, this was confusing.
How could I hate everything about the controlling man but be borderline obsessed with it too? I craved his focused attention and overprotective demands. Which was dangerous.
Both he and West were. Case in point: how I was now relaxed back against the sexy man, his arm snug around my waist, and I liked it, knew I would miss it the second the moment was over.
This was all too dangerous. I would not open myself up to be hurt again by another man, allow myself to lose the parts of me I was just finding again. I’d just found my freedom to be unapologetically me and needed to cling to it with everything I had to keep the forward progress moving.
“West,” I sighed, sitting up straight to put some much-needed distance between us. Closing the laptop, I held it to my chest like a shield. “I can’t?—”
Both our heads snapped toward the front door when it flung open so hard it slammed against the wall and bounced off, almost hitting the person walking in like they owned the place. Finley took one step into my cabin, mouth open, no doubt about to call out my name before her gaze landed on us. Motionless, eyes wide, she gaped for a solid five awkward seconds before clearing her throat and kicking the door closed behind her.
“Am I interrupting something?” she asked, waggling her brows. Striding across the living room, she fell onto the couch, grabbed my popcorn bowl, and began tossing pieces into her mouth.
I narrowed my eyes accusingly at my friend, which only made her damn smirk grow into a full-on smile.
“I was just showing West something on the laptop.”
Finley hummed a noncommittal response and leveled a pointed expression at the closed laptop pressed tight against my chest.
My eyes rolled to the ceiling as I held in a frustrated scream. “Did you need something, Fin?”
“Need something, no. But….” She tossed the bowl aside and dusted off her hands before sitting forward. She practically bounced on the couch with excitement. “I have the best fucking news, and I wanted to tell you first.”
Using the armrest instead of West’s hard thigh, I stood, though the arm around my waist tightened a fraction as if wanting to keep me there before slowly loosening, allowing me to escape. I didn’t dare look back to see if he was as disappointed as I was at the loss of his touch. Carefully setting the laptop on the coffee table, I perched on the couch arm, facing my friend.
“So, spill it. What is the best fucking news that I get to hear first? And I’m honored, by the way.” Digging around in the bowl, I picked a few candy-coated chocolate pieces from the popcorn and tossed them all in my mouth. A cheerful hum vibrated inmy chest as they melted on my tongue. “Also, when did you stop knocking?”
“I only knock on cabins where I might walk in on something I can’t unsee, like a friend’s va-jay-jay or one of the guy’s hairy asses. Your cabin is safe from all that.” She cut her eyes to West and then back to me. “For now.”
I flipped her off at the same time West’s deep chuckle sounded behind me. Rolling my eyes, I used the other hand to flip him off behind my back.
I snapped my fingers, drawing her attention from the popcorn bowl. “Fin, what is this news?” Keeping that woman on track was difficult; she got distracted by, well, everything.
Brushing both palms along her black leggings that accentuated her long, lean legs, she shot me a megawatt smile. “I have a date.”
At the disbelieving scoff, we both turned to glare at West.
“Have something to say?” I snipped.
“I….” He shook his head, rubbing his good hand over his shaved hair. “Nothing, never mind. But the question is, does Dax know about this date of yours?”
Finley shrugged and picked up a discarded gaming magazine to flip through the pages. “Not sure. Like I said, I wanted Juno to be the first to know.”
West hummed. “And does this guy know he’s risking his life by taking you out?” he hedged, looking partly worried but also entertained.
“Oh, come on. You guys wouldn’t mess this up for me on purpose, would you?” she said with a dramatic pout, falling back against the couch with her lower lip stuck out. “It’s my first actual date in what feels like forever.”
